Lack of Sleep Contributes to Heart Disease and Stroke

April 22, 2013Al

Not getting enough sleep may have more serious consequences than dark circles under your eyes the next morning. Current studies indicate that people who regularly sleep less than six hours a night have quadruple the risk of suffering a stroke than those who get seven or eight hours of sleep. A lack of sleep is linked to a range of disorders which often lead to early death. According to the study of hundreds of thousands of people across eight countries, chronic short sleep results into production of specific hormones and chemicals in the body which increases the risk of developing high blood pressure, strokes, heart disease and other conditions such as high level of cholesterol, diabetes and obesity.

Exactly how a lack of sleep causes plaque formation in the heart arteries is not fully understood. The pluasible explanation is that too little sleep can raise cortisol levels, which fuels inflammation. Another explanation points out that it might involve blood pressure. In general, blood pressure dips during sleep therefore when people sleep less. This shorters phases of lower blood pressure within a 24 hour period and increases poortunities to dislodge any unstable plaques in arteries.